Pocket knives are commonly used by sportsmen, craftsmen and others who desire a compact, portable blade or tool. Folding knives commonly include a handle with two sides spaced apart to define a cavity, and a blade. The blade includes a cutting surface and a tang pivotally attached to the handle. The blade pivots with respect to the handle between an open position, where the cutting surface extends outwardly from the handle, and a closed position, where the cutting surface is disposed within the cavity of the handle.
Many folding knives also include a device that holds, maintains, or locks the blade in the open position and/or the closed position. One type of knife locking mechanism is a “liner lock,” which utilizes a leaf spring positioned within the cavity of the knife handle and which engages the heel end of the knife blade. The blade is typically released by the user by applying finger pressure to the leaf spring, thus releasing the leaf spring from the knife blade. Another commonly used folding knife locking mechanism is a “back lock,” which utilizes a locking bar positioned along an upper edge of the knife handle. When finger pressure is applied to the locking bar, a tang interconnected to the locking bar is withdrawn from a cut-out “anvil” portion which is positioned proximate the heel-end of the blade. When the tang is released, the knife blade is allowed to rotate between a first extended position of use and a second closed position wherein at least a portion of the knife blade is stored within a cavity in the knife handle.
Examples of folding knives, including folding knives with locking mechanisms, may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,454,665; 1,743,022; 4,040,081; 4,173,068; 4,404,748; 4,451,982; 4,502,221; 4,719,700; 4,805,303; 4,811,486; 4,837,932; 4,893,409; 4,974,323; 4,979,301; 5,044,079; 5,060,379; 5,095,624; 5,111,581; 5,293,690; 5,325,588; 5,331,741; 5,425,175; 5,502,895; 5,515,610; 5,537,750; 5,546,662; 5,596,808; 5,615,484; 5,685,079; 5,689,885; 5,692,304; 5,737,841; 5,755,035; 5,802,722; 5,822,866; 5,826,340; 5,887,347; 5,964,036; 6,079,106; 6,154,965; 6,338,431; 6,378,214; 6,427,335; 6,438,848; 6,490,797; 6,591,504; 6,751,868; D348,599, and D373,296, the entire disclosures of which are herein incorporated by reference for all purposes.